NHL Team Guide: New York Rangers
The New York Rangers were founded in 1926 and are one of the Original Six – Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto are the others – teams that competed in the NHL before expansion began in 1967. With their Stanley Cup victory in 1928, the Rangers became the first NHL franchise in the U.S. to win the trophy.
The Rangers have a long and storied history. They also have plenty of fans and those fans can watch the Rangers on TV in several national broadcasts during the season. Those national games are found on NBC and NBCSN. The Rangers schedule on TV includes regional broadcasts on MSG and MSG+. Fans can also watch via live stream using the NBC Sports app.
NHL Standings
With the NHL’s most recent realignment, the Rangers were placed in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. They are the only Original Six team in the division. New York’s NHL schedule does include games against Atlantic Division opponents Boston, Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto, which were also members of the Original Six.
Championship History
With their long tradition of winning, the Rangers have made 59 NHL playoff appearances in their 93 seasons. The franchise has a total of seven division championships – 1926-27, 1931-32, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1993-94, 2011-12, 2014-15. The Rangers also won two conference titles in 1993-94 and 2013-14.
The Rangers have won four Stanley Cup finals, the most recent being in 1993-94. The team played in the 2013-14 Stanley Cup finals but was beaten by the Los Angeles Kings four games to one.
New York has also won three President’s Trophies (1991-92, 1993-94, 2014-15) as the NHL team with the highest point total in the regular season.
Home of the Rangers
The Rangers play in one of the premier sports venues in the world. Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968, is the oldest arena in the NHL. The arena has undergone renovations through the years and currently seats 18,006 for New York Rangers hockey games.
Best of the Rangers
As an Original Six franchise, the Rangers have a long and storied past. New York has 52 former players in the Hockey Hall of Fame. One is the Rangers all-time leader scorer – Rod Gilbert. The first Ranger to have his number (No. 7) retired, Gilbert scored a franchise-best 406 goals and 1,021 points. Despite 18 NHL seasons, all with the Rangers, Gilbert never won a Stanley Cup.
Only five NHL defensemen have scored 100-plus points in a season. The Rangers Brian Leetch is one of them. He won the Calder Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year in 1989 and his 23 goals that season is still an NHL rookie record for defensemen. Leetch played 18 seasons for the Rangers and is second on the franchise’s scoring list with 981 points. His 741 assists are the best in Rangers’ history.
Third on the Rangers all-time scoring list is another Hall of Famer, Jean Ratelle. In 16 seasons with the Rangers, Ratelle scored 817 points. Along with Gilbert, Ratelle was a member of the Rangers’ GAG line (Goal-a-Game).
Author: Dan Anderson